Royals show promise ... but they will need all the breaks

Sunday

Mar 30, 2008 at 12:01 AM

KANSAS CITY (AP) - After compiling only one winning season since 1994, is a weary Kansas City finally raising a white flag?

Free agent right fielder Jose Guillen is the only meaningful addition to an offense that produced a league-low 102 home runs. While the Royals do have a significant development in the dugout with a new manager, "new" is very much the operative word for someone who has never coached or played in the bigs.

One minute into the season opener at Detroit tomorrow, Trey Hillman will have exactly one minute of major-league experience.

It's not as though Hillman has no background running a team. The past five years, he was one of the most successful managers in Japan, taking the perennial doormat Nippon Ham Fighters all the way to the top.

And it's not as though the Royals have no reason to hope.

If a bevy of promising young players begin making their breakthrough under the new skipper, 2008 could be Kansas City's best season since that fluky and fortuitous campaign of 2003, when a ragtag collection of mostly veterans finished slightly above .500.

Long-suffering fans who will be stepping around ongoing construction at Kauffman Stadium have more reason to expect meaningful progress than they have had in more than a decade.

"We tried to get a lot of things accomplished," said right-hander Gil Meche, who will make his second straight opening day start in Detroit. "We tried to get a lot of guys to come. But some of the guys we tried to get decided to go elsewhere. I think Guillen is going to be huge, and so does everybody else. I know as a pitcher, I'm glad I'm not facing him again."

Guillen signed a three-year, $36 million contract and will be counted on to provide a much-needed punch in the middle of the lineup. He has had at least 20 home runs four times in the past five seasons and in 2006 with Seattle drove in 99 runs.

"He's a tough hitter," said Meche, whose 3.67 ERA last year was the Royals' best in a decade. "He's going to change our lineup. With everybody else coming back healthy and everybody playing pretty good the second half of the season and getting the first year out of the way, they can come to spring training a little bit more relaxed and have some fun."

Meanwhile, Major League Baseball put Guillen's 15-day steroids-related suspension on hold for 10 days, meaning he will be able to play in tomorrow's opener. His veteran leadership, as well as his bat, could be helpful to avoid the sort of bad start that has doomed so many Kansas City teams to so many disappointing seasons.

"I know there's not a lot of veterans here and guys that you know what you can get from them," Guillen said. "But from what I see so far: So far, so good. It's pretty good young players we have, but I'll see how we're going to react during the regular season."

Bannister, whose 3.87 ERA last year was fourth among American League rookies, will follow Meche in the rotation. Then comes right-hander Zack Greinke, lefty John Bale and right-hander Brett Tomko. Bale and Tomko won spots in spring training, and Greinke will take another shot at fulfilling the promise that made him the sixth overall draft pick in 2002.

Soria, a right-hander, was 2-3 last year and with an impressive ERA of 2.48. But his 5.56 ERA in 111/3 innings in the spring was a disappointment.

One surprise in the spring was Hillman's decision to bat Gordon third. When the Royals first started camp, Gordon was slated for seventh in the order.

The much-heralded Gordon got off to a slow start last year as a rookie. But after hitting .173 with eight RBI in his first 53 games, he hit .285 with 52 RBI in his final 98. His 55 extra-base hits ranked first among AL rookies.

In left field, playing his third position in three years, will be Mark Teahen. Moved from third base to right field last season to make room for Gordon, he was shifted to left this year because Guillen wanted to play right.

Big contributions will be needed from Teahen, Butler, Gordon and Guillen if the Royals are to be this year's surprise team.

"Nobody is going to give us any credit until we do it," Butler said. "Nobody is expecting us to do anything. But we expect more out of us than what anybody else expects."

Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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